Performance Under Pressure - Doc Download

Dear All,

I have been using the CITEHR site for over a month now and have found very useful write-ups and presentations pertaining to my area of work. One topic where I could not see much material was the ever-relevant "HOW TO PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE." If anybody could share a presentation or write-up on this, it would be very helpful.

Rinku

Rinku, the question is, what is pressure?

If it is a looming deadline, then obviously the first step you need to take is to prioritize the work at hand. Can you find out what is the 20% of your work which will give you 80% of the results required by the deadline? Believe me, it is possible. Next, can you safely delegate some of the work to your colleagues or subordinates? If you do not have subordinates, then boldly ask your boss to find you someone alongside you who can help with a portion of the work.

If the pressure is brought about by your boss or someone else in your department who is not pulling their weight, then you have to tactfully confront that person. Be sure to gather evidence before you do this. Also, keep your cool all along the transaction. Never allow the discussion to degenerate from being professional to becoming personal.

If the pressure is because of the way you react to a situation, then obviously you should treat yourself. Listening to meditative tapes (there are some fine ones on the net), exercising, listening to divine discourses, playing with children... all will relax you, and you will find yourself becoming calmer.

Evidently, you need to describe what particular pressure you feel when you are required to perform. Then we can discuss more meaningfully.

Hi Rinku,

Follow the SEAL rules, and you will always enjoy your work even under pressure:

1. Sincerity - Be sincere towards time and allocate a proper portion of time to plan the work and priorities accordingly.
2. Enthusiasm - Don't show your panic; stay calm and control your emotions.
3. Adaptability - Learn from mistakes.
4. Loyalty - Be loyal to yourself. Whatever you are doing to achieve the target is the best; never put yourself in a dual situation.

Performance always counts when you work under pressure. Nowadays, every job we do involves some pressure, and we have to perform accordingly. Sometimes, there is pressure related to project completion, production, time, and even in an unconditional working environment.

Have a nice day!

Hi,

Pressure is how much force you allow others/your work to exert on you. It depends on how you handle your work. Put things in place - prioritize. Do things on time - the right thing at the right time. Know what to do and how to do things - be informed. Procrastination piles pressure. Don't postpone things to tomorrow if you can do them today.

Easy ways to avoid pressure:

1. Make a list of things to be done for the day as you start your work.
2. Keep adding those items as they get added to your schedule for the day.
3. Keep ticking off the tasks accomplished.
4. Keep a tab on your watch and fix a deadline for each work.
5. If some of your work is dependent on others, please talk to them in a friendly way, reminding them or seeking their help on the subject.
6. Take a break just to take a deep breath and relax. Just keep the break within limits so that you don't lose sight of the task at hand.

These are basics. Hope it helps.

Regards,
Jean Walter

Hi Rinku,

Thank you, Shekhar, Vikash, Jean, and Anil, for taking the time to reply to my query. Thanks for the inputs!

My idea is to put up a presentation for my sales force, who are always under pressure to achieve targets. Nowadays, pressure is so universal that there are people who cannot work without it! In this scenario, I am looking at how to counter various pressures (self-applied, deadline pressure, boss-specific pressures, peer pressures, etc.). So if you come across some interesting stuff on this, kindly help me with it.

Thanks once again!

Rinku

Hi all,

Jean Walter's points are very nice. Likewise, please tell us when the situation is the other way around. In the case where work pressure is so low that only 2-3 hours of solid work are available in a day due to some tasks being centralized at the corporate office, what would be your advice on effectively using our time? This could be beneficial for our personal careers as well as for the organization.

Regards

Hi,

What I can suggest is that you can combine inputs from the esteemed members in this thread and also research CiteHR for topics such as:

- Time Management
- Stress Management
- Dealing with Bosses
- Assertive Skills
- Soft Skills
- Customer Management or KYC (Know Your Customer) concepts
- Work-Life Balance
- Self-Motivation

Prepare one or several presentations, combining various aspects relevant to your industry and job roles and duties. First, research and read about the mentioned concepts and inputs provided by the members here. Then survey, research, explore, discover, and understand the actual challenges faced by a standard salesperson and your sales team.

Draft one or a few presentations keeping your research and knowledge of their problems in perspective and organize an interactive session with them to educate them on how to handle pressure and perform.

Motivating employees is a continuous task. You need to feel their situation (be in their shoes), understand, and empathize when you present them tips and techniques to deal with pressure and perform. The audience must feel that you understand them, their job roles, duties, pressures, workflow, challenges; only then will they show interest or learn from your efforts.

I have come across many opinions from line staff that HRs only give flashy presentations, with "big talks" and don't understand ground realities and challenges. Usually, this type of effort is ignored or just visited by staff as yet another "big talk" activity when they don't connect with the trainer or speaker.

It's great to know you are researching these issues. I'm sure you will do your research. Just giving you some inputs. Hope it's helpful.

Best Wishes

See the attachment - funny but true!

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There was no specific spelling or grammar error in the user's input. I only added a line break after the initial sentence to ensure proper paragraph formatting.